Total cystectomy for bladder cancer

Between 1967 and 1974, 58 consecutive patients underwent total cystectomy and urinary diversion for primary carcinoma of the bladder. Preoperative irradiation was not used. The postoperative mortality was 3.4 per cent. The over-all 5-year survival rate for patients with transitional cell carcinoma was 62 per cent. For patients with O, A and B1 tumors the 5-year survival rate was 80 per cent and for those with B2 and C tumors it was 50 per cent.